For most of the population, Thanksgiving is a pretty restful holiday. No real obligations other than to eat and watch football.

For college students, it’s different. You still get to eat and watch football, but it isn’t always a particularly relaxing weekend, is it?

When I was in college, all I really wanted to do over Thanksgiving was catch up with my old friends and get some rest. But it seemed I always had homework over the holiday weekend — lots of reading and maybe even a paper due. And the stress of upcoming finals was always looming. Inevitably, I’d come back from Thanksgiving break dragging, instead of feeling refreshed and ready to take on the end of the semester.

If you have a lot of work to do over Thanksgiving break, my advice is tackle it a little bit at a time, to minimize stress. You don’t have to hide away from your family all weekend either. Just try to grab an hour or two at a time to get things done, so you don’t set yourself up for an all-day marathon on Sunday.

Are you ready for a nap after Thanksgiving dinner? Grab a family member — or your iPod — and go for a walk instead. When you get back, your head should be clear enough to read a couple chapters, or sketch a quick outline for a paper.

Instead of sleeping away the morning after Thanksgiving, make fun plans for mid-day — meet up with friends for a movie or something. Then promise yourself you’ll study for at least an hour before you go. You’re up at 10, and free for the day by noon.

Carve out another couple hours of study time on Saturday (the earlier the better, holiday weekends can get away from you!), and reward yourself afterward.

There! You just accomplished four or more hours of studying — no coffee-fueled cram-sessions required!

Give it a try — when you’re packing up the car on Sunday, you’ll be thankful!

Editor’s note: The Student LoanDown team will be taking the rest of the week off for Turkey Day. (And we probably won’t be studying!) We’ll be back the week of December 1. Happy Thanksgiving!

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About Caroline Hanson

Caroline is a communications consultant for Wells Fargo Education Financial Services. Although she has been known to forget her own ZIP code, she has memorized the lyrics to every bad 1970s pop song ever written. Unfortunately, she also loves karaoke. Caroline spends her spare time at Target®. She also likes biking slowly and has participated in RAGBRAI. Caroline is a graduate of Iowa State University and has worked in journalism and public relations for the past 14 years. She lives in Iowa with her husband and has a 19-year-old stepdaughter and 2-year-old son.

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